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First Pictures / The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers deluxe reissues

By Paul Sinclair

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Welcome to this SDE guide to the various formats on which Universal/Polydor have this week released The Rolling Stones‘ 1971 album Sticky Fingers. This feature isn’t about an examination of the bonus audio or an appraisal of the mastering, rather a look at the packaging and what you get beyond the audio/video. You can click on any photo for an enlarged hi-res look. Hope you enjoy!

The Super Deluxe Edition

The Super Deluxe Edition box set version of Sticky Fingers is about 12 inches wide, ten inches high and an inch or so thick. The oversized monstrosity 2012’s GRRR! super deluxe has thankfully been left behind. This new box set has a nice textured, linen/hessian feel to it. Given the dimensions, famous Warhol cover has its legs chopped off a bit, but other than that all it good. No zip on the outside, but we will find one within as you’ll see…

Open the lid, and on the top is a black envelope which contains five good quality art cards featuring group photographs (favouring Jagger/Richards). You will also find a ‘stand-up’ cut-out figure – one of the band. It appears to be random, whichever band member you get and as you will see below we found Mick Taylor in our envelope. If you want them all, you’ll have to buy five boxes and hope to get lucky! It occurred to me that the photo that the Mick Taylor image is taken from doesn’t actually show his entire body, so how could they have got a clean cut-out? Close inspection reveals a helping hand from photoshop (his left arm/elbow has been cloned).

One larger art print (The Rolling Stones with Ahmet Ertegun) and a folded poster sit underneath the envelope and beneath that is the star of the show which is the weighty 120-page hardcover book. Satisfyingly this *does* have a working zip on the front. Unlike the original the zipper has a ‘tongue’ logo as part of its design, but as per the 1971 release a peek underneath reveals the ‘pants’ image. A thick double-walled rectangle of cardboard protects the contents that sit above the book in the box set from being scratched by the zipper.

The book is fantastic, a significant improvement in terms of content on the Some Girls super deluxe book which was also a bit too big to handle comfortably. Top marks go to Studio Fury who have been responsible for the overall design and art direction. It looks superb with its visually appealing, distressed chunky typeface chapter openers and clever gold-ink ‘sticky finger’ prints throughout which prove an effective and stylish device. Period black and white photographs shine and Nick Kent’s words along with the various images (tape boxes, Warhol photoshoot, tour posters) really do tell the ‘story’ of the album. For once, there is proper content to digest and this is much more akin to the standard-setting McCartney tomes which are central to his deluxe sets.

The actual discs reside at the back of the book, but again, the execution seems that little bit better than previous ‘Stones sets. Something about the design, the uncoated stock and the way the discs seem to sit nice and flush within the pages. CD 3 ‘Get Your Lungs Out: Live at the University Of Leeds, 1971’ is exclusive to this box.

Super Deluxe Edition photo gallery

The Deluxe Box Set Edition

New for this release is a mid-range deluxe priced at around the £30 mark. In terms of audio/video content this only offers the DVD (from the super deluxe set) over and above the two-discs that you get in the standard deluxe edition. Not particularly exciting, given that the DVD only contains two video tracks and is effectively a thinly disguised promotional device to get you to buy the separate ‘From The Vault’ Marquee Club release which contains the performance in full. For less than £12 you can pre-order the LP+DVD Marquee Club release which softens the blow of not including it here in full, but you do think they should have either included the whole thing or not bothered with it at all.

If you’re having trouble visualising this edition, the box is exactly the same size as the Tears For Fears super deluxe sets and the contents inside are laid out in a similar way. You get the same five art cards in a black envelope, just as per the super deluxe – the only difference being that they are slightly smaller. The 70-page book is like a ‘mini-me’ version of the volume from the big box although crucially it doesn’t include the sleeve notes so it doesn’t have the same sense of narrative. There is still a lot of great photos and the design is a brilliant as before but obviously the impact is reduced somewhat by the smaller scale.

One advantage this smaller deluxe box does have over the other formats is that the three discs come in their own separate vinyl replica wallets. This is a small, but significant detail because groovy though super deluxe edition is, the only place for the discs is in the big, heavy book. Having them packaged separately means you can pull them out and put them on your CD shelf with your other ‘Stones releases if you so wish. These aren’t up to Japanese mini-LP CD standards, but are decent and come with inner sleeves. The box also includes one of those ribbons, to help you ‘pull out’ the contents.

This is a great and well made set, but at the time of writing it’s £22 more than the standard two-CD deluxe. That price point is similar to the recent Tears For Fears set but Songs From The Big Chair was a six-disc box that offered a boat full of audio and video – this doesn’t do that. I don’t think you get enough to justify the extra. If this was priced between £20 and £25 then that might be the sweet spot where it would be worth pulling the trigger but at the moment it does offer great value.

Deluxe Box Set photo gallery

The 2CD Deluxe Edition

The two-CD deluxe edition is a standard eight-panel digi-pack. The 24-page booklet has literally no words in it except for two pages of credits at the end – it’s all photographs. You get the extra audio on the bonus disc, but the truth is this doesn’t feel very ‘deluxe’. You can’t argue with the value though, since you can pick this up for less than £11.

2CD Deluxe Edition photo gallery

The 2LP Deluxe Vinyl Edition

The deluxe double vinyl version of Sticky Fingers features the real zip. The single vinyl version doesn’t. A vertical plastic band is in place to stop the zip from scratching anything within its vicinity. The outer sleeve/jacket feels a little low-grade to be honest. A textured card jacket, perhaps with the same hessian feel as both box sets might have felt nicer to the touch, but still, this is a design classic and looks good in the large format square vinyl setting. The two heavyweight records within include the album and the nine bonus tracks and that’s it. There is no booklet with any of the content from the two books, which you think they might have included – this is supposed to be the ‘deluxe’ vinyl edition. Somehow the 2LP lacks a little ‘wow’ factor which is definitely present with the SDE and to a lesser degree in the small box set.

2LP Deluxe Vinyl photo gallery

bo

Super Deluxe Edition box (3CD+DVD+7″+large book etc.)

smallbox

Deluxe Edition box (2CD+DVD+small book)

2lp

2LP Vinyl Edition

vinyl

Vinyl LP

2CD

Deluxe 2CD

Track listing

Sticky Fingers (2009 remaster)

  • 1. Brown Sugar
  • 2. Sway
  • 3 . Wild Horses
  • 4. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
  • 5. You Gotta Move
  • 6. Bitch
  • 7. I Got The Blues
  • 8. Sister Morphine
  • 9. Dead Flowers
  • 10. Moonlight Mile

Sticky Fingers Bonus audio CD / 2nd Vinyl LP

  • 1. Brown Sugar [feat. Eric Clapton]
  • 2.Wild Horses (Acoustic)
  • 3. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (Alternate Version)
  • 4. Bitch (Extended Version)
  • 5. Dead Flowers (Alternate Version)
  • 6. Live With Me (Live At The Roundhouse / 1971)
  • 7. Stray Cat Blues (Live At The Roundhouse / 1971)
  • 8. Love In Vain (Live At The Roundhouse / 1971)
  • 9. Midnight Rambler (Live At The Roundhouse / 1971)
  • 10 Honky Tonk Women (Live At The Roundhouse / 1971)

Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out! (super deluxe only)

  • 1. Jumpin Jack Flash
  • 2. Live With Me
  • 3. Dead Flowers
  • 4. Stray Cat Blues
  • 5. Love In Vain
  • 6. Midnight Rambler
  • 7. Bitch
  • 8. Honky Tonk Women
  • 9. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
  • 10. Little Queenie
  • 11. Brown Sugar
  • 12. Street Fighting Man
  • 13. Let It Rock

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25 Comments

25 thoughts on “First Pictures / The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers deluxe reissues”

  2. Pingback: Saturday Deluxe / 25 July 2015 | superdeluxeedition
  3. Pingback: Review / The Rolling Stones: From The Vault Marquee Club | superdeluxeedition

  4. Let me start to say thank you for the other posts as there’s some great info about this set- The only set to buy is the SDE which is frankly superb- Please note that the Japanese edition discs all come in SHM format with bonus Japanese singles sleeves- very nice. Great set and wonderful design- Highly recommended.

  6. The Stones have made a real pig’s ear of the recent reissues. The SDE for each one seems to be in a different format: vinyl-size box for Exile, ridiculously oversized boxes for GRRR and Some Girls and now something else for this. They don’t seem to appreciate that collectors desire consistency between releases. The limited DVD content is also ridiculous and tight-fisted. Why wasn’t the Exile Documentary DVD in the SDE, for example? Let’s have definitive releases with everything available!

    Anyway, in my opinion they’ve missed the last opportunity to do it right while the band are still living and they still control the copyrights. What a shame the quality control is such a direct contrast to that which was there for the music on the original LPs…

  7. Pingback: Saturday Deluxe / 13 June 2015 | superdeluxeedition

  8. And here’s me thinking that users of this website come here as they still appreciate physical product…

    I’m a huge stones fan but have stayed away from the previous truly awful ‘super deluxe’ boxes. I’ve got the Japanese SHM-CD flat transfer of Sticky Fingers which is vastly superior to this re-master. However, took delivery of this box set today and it is (for once) worth every penny. We all know how good the ‘Leeds’ gig is but to finally have an official release is great (lovely laid back performance, with horn section very prominent in the mix); the book is (as above) superb and of very high quality paper stock, with informative notes and nice photos – many from Ethan Russell; great packaging; nice bonus disc. Shame it does not include the full Marquee gig (but got that from Amazon Japan with Brussels affair!). For any Stones fan this is a must and much . Much better value than the Zeppelin boxes (mind you, I’m a sucker for physical product so got those as well for an average of £40 – speedy hen on eBay!). Enjoy!

    Steve

  9. Never owned the album originally but heard it on vinyl several years ago when I borrowed it from a friend so now have the 2cd version and it is bringing back memories of the friend who lent it to me

  10. All the tracks from the Super Deluxe are on Spotify. Most super deluxe sets end up on there for those that want to hear the tracks that are usually kept for the mega expensive sets.

    1. Spotify is quite useful for listening to those ‘exclusive’ tracks that are only on expensive box sets, but I’ve never found myself thinking ‘what’s the point of buying that box, when it’s on Spotify’ :)

      1. What you need to weigh up is do you need to buy an album again at £75, which in this case is a recently derided mastering, to get some bonus tracks and unnecessary memorabilia. when you can listen to the bonus tracks for free.

        How many times are you going to revisit the bonus tracks? You can pick up a better mastering of the main album for less than £6.

        I like a lot of different music styles and admittedly got sucked in by the nice looking box sets but came to realise that most of it is stuff I can live without, having already owned the main album for decades. I now have a lot more space and money and streaming online let’s me dip in and out at my convenience.

        I have a very good 5.1 set-up and quality headphones and listening to high-res physical media and streaming at lower bitrates has no noticeable difference for me.

        That of course is just my opinion.

      2. Clearly there are people who think exactly that though. I’m not at that point (yet?), especially because with the music I really love there’s no guarantee that it’ll be available to stream forever. But I do understand that some of us have to economise or at least prioritise when it comes to this sort of release – and I have to admit that a lot of the sort of stuff that shows up as bonus tracks on repeated reissues can be the sort of thing that’s really only interesting to hear once.

  11. I’d be interested to learn about product variations, if any, among those editions sold from each country. e.g., for 1LP Vinyl, 2LP Vinyl, 7″ single, CDs, DVD, book, and art/add-ins. I haven’t heard whether all the SD Editions are manufactured in one plant/country, as was the case for the recent Beatles 2014 Mono Vinyl LPs made in Germany (and not the case for Beatles 2009 Stereo Vinyl LPs). Also, in various listings/outlets, I’ve seen mentions of heavyweight or 180G vinyl, a t-shirt, and even a photo of a 7″ single with alternate track titles printed on the picture sleeve (Brown Sugar, Bitch, Let It Rock). If they are manufactured at different plants or countries, I imagine there might be differences particularly in vinyl editions — the vinyl itself and the record jackets, not to mention the zippers (on the SDE book as well). Down to such details as whether 7″ singles are all small centre holes? As a US buyer of the Target edition 2CD with 1LP vinyl offer, I’m also wondering if the “redemption” vinyl package will be somehow different than that offered through other retailers. We’ve also seen a Spanish vinyl edition cover variation. I realize most individual readers are likely buying from a single country/source, but if folks here are willing to provide confirmed info, that would be helpful. I will do same, as I am buying from US, Canada, UK, Germany and possibly Japan.

  12. I pre-ordered this but cancelled last week. Bought the Some Girls, Get Yer Ya-Yas and Exile On Main Street super deluxe sets and felt a little underwhelmed.

  13. I also purchased the Target edition for around $17.99 USD plus tax and to my ears it appears that the 2009 remaster has been toned down some and the bonus tracks sound amazing! Although I mentioned in a previous thread that I would not be purchasing the SDE, I changed my mind and ordered it through AmazonUK today. I must have the “Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out!” upgrade!

  17. I will probably buy the SDE because I want the Leeds disc but am worried that they will release it separately later on. I face a similar doubt regarding the Japan-only Marquee package with the Brussels ’73 disc.

  18. I’m as big a fan of the Stones as everybody else in the room. But the price/value for the SDE was just too steep for me to go the length. The 2CD edition is good enough as it has all the important cuts.

    “Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out!” would be nice to have, but remains just that: nice to have and not need to have. At least not at the price they’re charging.

  20. A couple points. I bought the regular deluxe edition 2-CD set as an introduction of The Rolling Stones into my collection. Yes, 35+ years of collecting and to this point I couldn’t be bothered. But lately I’ve been digging back into some vintage bands and have been enjoying the journey.

    Why this one? Well aside from being recommended by a friend as a great RS title to start with, Target here in the USA has an offer going where you use a code inside the CD packaging to obtain a free copy of the single vinyl by mail. How could I refuse such a deal??? 2 CD’s AND vinyl for $17.99!!!

  21. The music speaks for itself, brilliant album, possibly their best.

    Think they missed a trick to produce the BEST ever SDE.

    Combining the double vinyl and the full Marquee DVD into the SDE and voila ?

    Would have been worth the extra £20/£30. Admittedly box production costs would increase etc.

    But SDE and smaller box have arrived. Superb.

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